Alleged LSD drug deal in Aspen bar leads to felony charges

Aspen police arrested two people on felony drug charges Friday after an employee at a downtown bar witnessed an alleged drug deal involving LSD, according to court documents.

Morgan Abrams, 27, of Chicago faces one count of possession of LSD and one count of distribution of LSD, while Brad Hammond, 27, of Englewood was charged with possession of LSD and possession of cocaine.

Two Aspen police sergeants were doing a routine bar check at Belly Up about 11:40 p.m. Friday when the manager reported that a member of his staff had just witnessed a woman hand a man something in a transaction that looked like a possible drug deal, according to an affidavit filed in Pitkin County District Court.

When the employee asked Abrams what she handed to Hammond, both individuals declined to answer her, the affidavit states. After telling the two she would escort them to the two police officers in the bar, Hammond dropped a small piece of paper that one of the sergeants suspected was blotter acid or LSD, according to the affidavit.

Abrams declined to answer any questions from the officers and was arrested. They later discovered a "larger sheet of an acid blotter which was missing three perforated square sections of blotter" that tested positive for LSD, the affidavit states. The small piece of paper recovered at the bar fit the missing section of the larger sheet.

Hammond told police he was in the bar and asked Abrams — who he said he didn't know — for a piece of gum. However, he said she handed him something from her purse that was not gum, which he dropped on the ground, according to the affidavit.

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"I asked Hammonds what Abrams handed him," Sgt. Rob Fabrocini wrote in the affidavit. "Hammond said he thinks it was acid but was not sure."

After he was arrested and handcuffed, the officers asked Hammond if he had any other drugs on him before they put him in a police car.

"Drugs, right front pocket," Hammond said, according to the affidavit.

The officers then found a "bullet dispenser" in the pocket that contained a white powder that later tested positive for cocaine, the affidavit states.